Hey, red spender

CHINA is scaling new heights in science. Hard on the heels of its successful manned space mission come statistics showing it to be the world's third biggest spender in science and technology.

In 2001 China invested $60 billion in research, a figure bettered only by the US and Japan, which spent $282 billion and $104 billion respectively. It also boasted 743,000 researchers that year, compared with 1.3 million in the US and 648,000 in Japan. China also awarded 739,000 university degrees in 2000.

The figures come from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which last week published statistics on science, technology and industry for its 30 member countries. This is the first year that reliable figures for China have been available - a sign of its increasing openness.

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